Six die in helicopter crash

All six US soldiers on board an army Black Hawk helicopter died when it crashed near the north-central city of Tikrit, the military in Baghdad said.

Soldiers in the US Army base near the crash site in Tikrit said it was probably shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. But a US Army spokeswoman at the base said the cause of the crash had not been confirmed, and investigations were still going on.

The helicopter went down about 9.40am on the banks of the Tigris River, about one kilometre from the US base at Saddam Hussein's former palace.

On Sunday, a US Army Chinook helicopter was shot down near Fallujah, killing 16 people, and injuring 26.